AFP, Geneva :
Swiss competition authorities said Monday they were investigating UBS, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and other major banks for suspected price fixing in the trade of precious metals like gold and silver.
The Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO) said it was probing whether seven banks had colluded to manipulate prices in the precious metals market.
The watchdog said in a statement that it had “opened an investigation against two Swiss banks, UBS and Julius Baer, as well as against the foreign financial institutions Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Mitsui.”
COMCO, which opened a preliminary investigation in February, said it now had indications that the banks had “possibly concluded illegal competition defying deals” in the trade of the precious metals gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
“We think they can have manipulated the price of these precious metals,” COMCO deputy chief Patric Ducrey told AFP.
The competition authority said it especially suspected the banks had fixed the prices of bid/ask spreads within the market.
Ducrey said the banks had all been informed of the ongoing probe, and that the investigation would likely conclude in 2017.
It is not the first time the role of banks in determining the price of precious metals has been questioned.
In August, the European Commission said it was “currently investigating alleged anti-competitive behaviour in precious metals spot trading in the EEA” (European Economic Area), but provided no further details. And in February, the US Justice Department reportedly opened its own investigation into possible manipulation of precious metals markets by 10 major international banks: HSBC, Bank of Nova Scotia, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Societe Generale, Standard Bank and UBS. Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Standard Bank of South Africa and the German chemical group BASF have also been under investigation since last November over a complaint alleging rigging of the prices of platinum and palladium.
Julius Baer, which was not part of the US investigation, told AFP Monday it was aware of the Swiss probe. “We will constructively cooperate with this investigation,” said spokesman Jan Vonder Muehl. UBS, which did not immediately return requests for comment Monday, said in May it had won immunity from criminal fraud charges in the US probe, after agreeing to provide the Justice Department with information about precious metal transactions.
Swiss competition authorities said Monday they were investigating UBS, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and other major banks for suspected price fixing in the trade of precious metals like gold and silver.
The Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO) said it was probing whether seven banks had colluded to manipulate prices in the precious metals market.
The watchdog said in a statement that it had “opened an investigation against two Swiss banks, UBS and Julius Baer, as well as against the foreign financial institutions Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Mitsui.”
COMCO, which opened a preliminary investigation in February, said it now had indications that the banks had “possibly concluded illegal competition defying deals” in the trade of the precious metals gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
“We think they can have manipulated the price of these precious metals,” COMCO deputy chief Patric Ducrey told AFP.
The competition authority said it especially suspected the banks had fixed the prices of bid/ask spreads within the market.
Ducrey said the banks had all been informed of the ongoing probe, and that the investigation would likely conclude in 2017.
It is not the first time the role of banks in determining the price of precious metals has been questioned.
In August, the European Commission said it was “currently investigating alleged anti-competitive behaviour in precious metals spot trading in the EEA” (European Economic Area), but provided no further details. And in February, the US Justice Department reportedly opened its own investigation into possible manipulation of precious metals markets by 10 major international banks: HSBC, Bank of Nova Scotia, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Societe Generale, Standard Bank and UBS. Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Standard Bank of South Africa and the German chemical group BASF have also been under investigation since last November over a complaint alleging rigging of the prices of platinum and palladium.
Julius Baer, which was not part of the US investigation, told AFP Monday it was aware of the Swiss probe. “We will constructively cooperate with this investigation,” said spokesman Jan Vonder Muehl. UBS, which did not immediately return requests for comment Monday, said in May it had won immunity from criminal fraud charges in the US probe, after agreeing to provide the Justice Department with information about precious metal transactions.
